MADAGASCAR / YOUTH VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Preview Language: Original

FRENCH
10-Aug-2018
00:03:26

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is offering occupational training in Madagascar to young unemployed people, especially to former youth gang members, in order to help them re-entre the workforce. ILO

1. Various shots, Diego-Suarez, street scene with yellow tuk-tuks, statue by the seaside and palm trees, beauty shot of landscape and sea
2. Various shots, prison inmates in Diego-Suarez (faces blurred) in prison courtyard and in living quarters
3. Various shots, young men sit by side of street eating khat leaves
4. Various shots, Diego-Suarez police station office, police discuss where to send police patrols
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Commissioner Moratamby:
"Now we’ll deploy patrols by sector. We do that every day to make the town safe."
6. Various shots, music concert, police arrive outside concert hall, singers perform with audience watching, police check people’s bags
7. Various shots, young people at SECREN training centre, in classroom with computers, wearing hard hats and learning how to use tools to repair machinery, doing sport and dancing
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Vial Lucet, SECREN Director:
“The ILO provided the funding needed for theoretical and practical training, and for starter kits once the young people leave the centre.”
9. Various shots, José Pouely, carpenter and former trainee at SECREN repairs fishing boat
10. SOUNDBITE (Malagasy) MalaJosé Pouely, Carpenter, beneficiary of SECREN training:
"My father used to build wooden boats, and I wanted to do the same as him.”
11. Wide shot, José Pouely showing the boat he built
12. SOUNDBITE (French) Christian Ntsay, Prime Minister of Madagascar, former ILO Madagascar Director:
“To simultaneously revive investment in Madagascar and give young people access to a profession, to qualifications - that’s what Madagascar has to do today.”
13. Various shots, other beneficiaries of SECREN training centre work at auto shop, do metal welding

STORYLINE:

Diego-Suarez, in northern Madagascar, has much to offer tourists – beaches, a historical town centre, and stunning scenery.

But for these young men their surroundings are less beautiful. They are in prison, having committed acts of violence and other crimes.

In recent years, Diego-Suarez has witnessed the emergence of organized gangs, known as foroches. They have created a climate of insecurity, threatening tourism and the local population.

The problem is fuelled by the consumption of drugs, in particular khat leaves, as well as gang rivalry and high youth unemployment throughout the region.

The situation became so serious, that public authorities and civil society decided to act.

As night falls Commissioner Moratamby sends police crews out to patrol the streets to provide security.

SOUNDBITE (French) Commissioner Moratamby:
"Now we’ll deploy patrols by sector. We do that every day to make the town safe."

A heavy police presence, like here at this concert, does have a preventive effect, but it’s not the only way to ease the insecurity. Young people also need prospects for the future.

Thanks to the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), a project was launched aimed at offering occupational training to young unemployed people. A local training centre called SECREN is the project’s main partner.

In two years, about 200 former gang members have been trained in various fields, including electromechanics, combustion engine maintenance, boiler maintenance, computer graphics, carpentry and stone masonry.

The centre’s instructors also focus on entrepreneurship skills and civic education, in particular through sports and dance.

SOUNDBITE (French) Vial Lucet, SECREN Director:
"The ILO provided the funding needed for theoretical and practical training, and for starter kits once the young people leave the centre.”

José Pouely, a former foroche, had a history of petty crime. But one day he heard about the project and saw how his life could change for the better. He signed up for carpentry classes at the training centre, and learned how to build and repair lakanas, the traditional Malagasy fishing boats.

SOUNDBITE (Malagasy) MalaJosé Pouely, Carpenter, beneficiary of SECREN training:
"My father used to build wooden boats, and I wanted to do the same as him.”

José recently finished building this lakana, which he sold for about US$ 600. He’s proud of his work and that he’s able to carry on with the traditional methods once used by his father, who has since passed away.

SOUNDBITE (French) Christian Ntsay, Prime Minister of Madagascar, former ILO Madagascar Director:
“To simultaneously revive investment in Madagascar and give young people access to a profession, to qualifications - that’s what Madagascar has to do today.”

Other project beneficiaries now work in small auto shops or welding workshops in the Diego-Suarez area. For them, too, the world of gang crime is now just a bad memory. Their training has kept them out of prison and opened the door to the world of work.